China has again belittled the Philippines’ legal victory in an international arbitral court against Beijing, calling the landmark ruling “nothing more than a piece of waste paper.” “The award of the arbitration is illegal, null and void. It is nothing more than a piece of waste paper,” said Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian at a press conference in Beijing on Monday, the fifth anniversary of the ruling of the Permanent Court of Arbitration based in The Hague invalidating China’s vast maritime claims in the South China Sea and West Philippine Sea. Zhao said the South China Sea arbitration violated the principle of state consent and the arbitral tribunal exercised its jurisdiction ultra vires and rendered an award in disregard of law.

Brago, P. L., Punongbayan, M., Punay, E., Romero, P., Flores, H., & Villanueva, R. (2021, July 14). Piece of waste paper: China dismissses arbitral award. The Philippine Star, p. 3.